Channing Crowder says lockout will hurt quality of play

May 24, 2011|By Andrew Carter, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

BOCA RATON — The longer the NFL lockout continues to drag on the more veteran Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder worries about how it will affect the integrity of the sport. After a workout here on Tuesday with some of his teammates, Crowder said the lockout has already had negative effect on preparation for the 2011 season.

And once the season does begin – whenever that might be – Crowder predicted there'd be an increase in injuries and a decrease in the quality of play in the NFL.

"There's going to be more injuries [and] it's going to be real simple football," Crowder said. "It's going to mess up the integrity of the game because we're used to having those [off-season training activities], minicamps, off-season workouts …

"It's hurting the NFL now and as long as the owners won't let us go to work it's going to continue to hurt the game we love."

Crowder gathered at FAU on Tuesday along with Dolphins teammates Randy Starks, Patrick Cobbs and Daniel Thomas, the former Kansas State running back whom Miami selected last month in the second round of the NFL Draft. New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott also attended the workout – conducted by Test Football Academy – and so did several others, most of them undrafted free agents.

There were about 20 players in all out on the football practice fields at FAU. They went for about 90 minutes – running through obstacles and between cones, testing their agility and endurance, mostly.

For the older guys – those like Crowder and Scott – it didn't appear to be too difficult a workout.

It will be those younger ones, Crowder said, who will most feel the effects of the lockout. Thomas, who perhaps represents the Dolphins' future at running back, said he has frequently worked out at FAU in recent weeks – though Crowder joked that he has "been cussing him out" because he wants Thomas' participation to become more consistent.

"It's just messing up the integrity of the game [more] than anything," Crowder said. "Those [rookies] should be in [team practice facilities] right now. [Thomas] should know everybody on the Dolphins right now. He should be able to be taking handoffs from Chad Henne …"

Instead, Thomas said he has met few of his teammates. He said he has not yet met Henne.

He hasn't had a chance to talk with Brian Daboll, the Dolphins new offensive coordinator. Nor has Thomas even peeked at a Dolphins playbook.

Teams like the Dolphins, who will be installing a new offense led by a new coordinator, could have the most to lose the longer the lockout separates players from their coaches – and from their playbooks.

"Teams that have new coordinators, new systems, they're going to struggle," Scott said. "Because you can't get the idiosyncrasies that you need, the small details … to really take your defense or your offense to the next level."

Like his older teammates, Thomas has been paying his own way to work out during the off-season. For those established veterans like Crowder, the financial burden hasn't been as heavy as it has for rookies and others who have been in the league a short time.

"You have the first, second-year guys – they buy a house, they buy a $100,000 car and now they're broke and they had just enough money to make it to this next season," Crowder said. "And I know it. I know plenty of guys that are like that and [there are] already guys trying to take loans out."

In the meantime, there isn't much for the players to do aside from working out. And waiting.

"We want to work," Crowder said. " … You would think the owners would want to get us in there to get us going but greed motivates a lot of silliness."